by Steve Arterburn
The United States Advisory Board for Social Concerns shows that minors read over 70 percent of all pornographic magazines. Further estimates indicate that most hard-core porn viewers are under twenty years of age. To a large extent, then, our nation’s young people are financing the pornographic industry.
Further still, adults who seek treatment for pornography addiction almost always attest to exposure during childhood. Whether these adults are involved in multiple affairs, self-gratification, or prostitution, they usually share the experience of getting started years earlier with what seemed to be harmless magazines containing nude photographs.
My point is this: if you have a teenager, he or she is a target for the pornography industry. Therefore, you be observant of their behavior, and prepared to take immediate and decisive action if pornography is discovered.
If you discover evidence of porn usage—a phone bill, a book, a magazine, a video—don’t simply take the child’s word that it was a one-time experience. In most cases, it’s the tip of the iceberg.
Adolescents caught up in this problem are usually much too ashamed to ask for help, and too emotionally immature to realize there may be a problem. So even if your child has a history of honesty, it’s much wiser to at least suspect that your child may be trying to hide a bigger problem.
Dad, if you ignore the evidence, you may be ignoring you child’s subconscious attempt to get help.
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